Cops get an assist before Gold Medal Game The case of the missing jersey

September 10, 2009|By David Haugh

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jordan was in position to win gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics only because of some quick police work by one of L.A.'s finest.

About an hour before tipoff, Jordan realized he had forgotten his jersey in his room at the Olympic Village on the campus of the University of Southern California. The Forum, where the gold-medal game would be played, was in Inglewood, 15 miles away. Jordan had to have his No. 9 jersey; there were no replacements.

An Inglewood patrolman went to USC to retrieve the jersey but was denied entry to the Village. About the same time, Los Angeles police Sgt. Emilio Perez happened by the complex.

Perez rushed the jersey to the Forum just in time for MJ to carry the U.S. to a gold medal. The moment allowed Jordan to achieve a goal he'd had since he was a 13-year-old boy in Wilmington, N.C., watching point guard Quinn Buckner dance after leading the U.S. to Olympic gold in Montreal.